Cyprus' president to undergo heart surgery in US

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' president will undergo surgery to repair a heart valve in the U.S. next month.

President Nicos Anastasiades will depart for New York City on Saturday and will undergo the surgery at a hospital there on Dec. 4, according to government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides.

Christodoulides said Tuesday the trip to the New York hospital was deemed necessary because it specializes in mitral valve surgery. He says the 68-year-old Anastasiades is expected to return to Cyprus before the Christmas holidays.

Christodoulides says that Anastasiades' trip to Israel that was scheduled for Dec. 2 has been postponed, as has a visit by the Slovak president that was slated for Dec. 3.

He says both those events, as well as Anastasiades' visit to Russia, will likely happen in January.